By Xie Xingyu, Vision Times
37 years after fleeing China following the Tiananmen Square pro-democracy crackdown, Arthur Liu (Liu Jun) found himself back before lawmakers in Washington. But this time, not as a student activist, but as the father of an Olympic champion and a witness to what officials describe as the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) growing campaign of transnational repression in the U.S. and beyond.
Speaking before the Congressional-Executive Commission on China (CECC) on June 4, Liu recounted how his decades-long advocacy for democracy and human rights allegedly made him and his family targets of surveillance efforts carried out on behalf of Beijing, even while his daughter, figure skater Alysa Liu, was preparing to represent the U.S. on the world stage.
RELATED: Exclusive: Olympic Champion Alysa Liu’s Father on the CCP’s Attempts to Recruit Her
From Tiananmen activist to political exile
Speaking before lawmakers on the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, Liu reflected on what he described as one of the darkest days of his life. He recalled how Chinese authorities deployed troops and tanks into Beijing in 1989 to suppress peaceful demonstrators who had gathered to call for democracy, free expression, a free press, the rule of law, and basic human rights.
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Though officials figures were never released by Chinese authorities, the death toll is estimated to be in the hundreds, if not thousands.
At the time of the 1989 protests, Liu was a graduate student at Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou and one of the organizers of the local democracy movement. “When news of the Beijing massacre reached Guangzhou, I was shocked and heartbroken,” he said. “I could not understand and could not believe that a government claiming to serve the people would turn its weapons against its own young people and ordinary citizens.”
After organizing additional demonstrations condemning the crackdown, Liu became one of southern China’s most wanted democracy activists before eventually escaping China via Hong Kong and then seeking refuge in the U.S.
Security concerns
But even in exile, he continued organizing protests outside Chinese diplomatic missions and speaking publicly about China’s human rights record. “Like many refugees, I believed that once I came to America, I had left political persecution behind,” Liu said. “But something that happened at the end of 2021 proved me wrong.”
Liu then described a series of events that unfolded as Alysa Liu emerged as one of America’s brightest figure skating stars. Alysa Liu had already made history by becoming the youngest U.S. women’s national champion and the youngest skater to land a triple Axel in international competition. By 2021, she was widely expected to compete at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
According to Liu, he received a phone call in late 2021 from someone claiming to represent the U.S. Olympic Committee, requesting passport information for him and his daughter. “I told him I would take care of it the next day,” Liu testified. “But I didn’t. I was a little smarter and more cautious than that.”
Days later, he said, FBI agents contacted him and requested a meeting. “As we were boarding our flight, I received a telephone call from the FBI,” Liu said. “The agent informed me that the spy was on his way to our home. I will never forget that moment.” The individual also sought to monitor his movements, install a GPS tracking device on his vehicle, and obtain personal information, including passport details.
‘America will not be safe’
Concerned for his daughter’s safety ahead of the Beijing Olympics, Liu said he requested that authorities delay any arrests until after Alysa returned from competition. “Could you wait until she comes back from the Olympics before taking action?” he recalled asking.
The FBI agreed, he said, and additional security precautions were implemented during Alysa’s time in Beijing. On March 16, 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice announced criminal charges against several individuals accused of acting as agents of the Chinese government. Alysa went on to win two gold medals while competing for Team USA at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.
Among them was Matthew Ziburis, whom Liu identified as the individual who had allegedly contacted him while posing as a U.S. Olympic official. “I am deeply grateful to the FBI agents who helped protect me and my daughter,” Liu said. “I also thank the U.S. government for taking strong legal action to bring these spies to justice.”
But he warned that prosecutions alone would not solve the broader problem. “We must understand that it is not only Chinese dissidents like me, Uyghurs, or Hong Kongers who are under threat,” Liu testified. “We must recognize that until China becomes a democratic country, we will not be safe, and America will not be safe,” he said, adding, “We still have much work to do.”
